Birds of prey (From The Northern Echo)

Birds of prey

10:15am Thursday 8th May 2008 in Letters

IN his letter regarding the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and birds of prey (HAS, May 1), Alistair Mitchell says managed grouse moors have more nesting waders than the RSPB moorland reserve in Cumbria.

As the RSPB does not engage in the wholesale eradication of all predators, by legal or illegal means, it is logical that a moorland managed by gamekeepers will have a higher density of waders.

The aim of a gamekeeper is to maximise grouse production, as demanded by his employer, with any other result a mere byproduct. The RSPB will be trying to produce an ecosystem with predator and prey in a natural balance.

Eric Gendle, Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough.